Stephen Leacock
Canadian | ethnicity = | citizenship = British subject | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = humor | subject = | movement = | notableworks = Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, Arcadian Adventures With the Idle Rich | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Lorne Pierce Medal, FRSC | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} Stephen Butler Leacock, FRSC (December 30, 1869 - March 28, 1944) was an English-born Canadian writer, teacher, political scientist, and humorist. In the early part of the 20th century he was the best-known humorist in the English-speaking world. Life Overview Leacock published several works of political theory, but his greatest acclaim came as a writer of comedic fiction. His stories, first published in magazines in Canada and the United States, and later in novel form, became extremely popular around the world. It was said in 1911 that more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than had heard of Canada. Youth Leacock was born in Swanmore, near Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, England. At the age of 6 he moved to Canada with his family, which settled on a farm in Egypt, Ontario, near the village of Sutton and the shores of Lake Simcoe.The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour While the family had been well off in England (the Leacocks had made a fortune in Madeira and lived on an estate called Oak Hill on the Isle of Wight), Leacock's father, Peter, had been banished from the manor for marrying Agnes Butler without his parents' permission. The farm in the Georgina township of York County was not a success and the family (Leacock was the 3rd of 11 children) was kept afloat by money sent by Leacock's grandfather. Peter Leacock became an alcoholic. Stephen, always of obvious intelligence, was sent by his grandfather to the elite private school of Upper Canada College in Toronto (also attended by his older brothers), where he was top of the class and was chosen as head boy. In 1887, defending his mother and siblings against his father's alcoholic abuse, Leacock ordered him from the family home and he was never seen again. Walter Peter Leacock went to live in Argentina where he was a merchant and lived with a woman named Annie Leacock. That same year, 17-year-old Leacock started at University College at the University of Toronto (UT), where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, but found he could not resume the following year because of financial difficulties. He left university to go to work teaching - an occupation he disliked immensely - in Strathroy, then Uxbridge, and finally Toronto. As a teacher at Upper Canada College, his alma mater, he was able simultaneously to attend classes at UT and, in 1891, earn his degree through part-time studies. During this period his earliest writing was published in The Varsity, a campus newspaper. Academic and political life Disillusioned with teaching, in 1899 he began graduate studies at the University of Chicago, where he received a doctorate in political science and political economy. He moved from Chicago, Illinois to Montreal, Quebec, where he became a lecturer and long-time acting head of the political economy department at McGill University. He was closely associated with Sir Arthur Currie, former commander of the Canadian Corps in the Great War and principal of McGill from 1919 until his death in 1933. In fact, Currie had been a student observing Leacock's practice teaching in Strathroy in 1888. In 1936, Leacock was forcibly retired by the McGill Board of Governors - an unlikely prospect had Currie lived. Leacock was both a social conservative and a partisan Conservative. He opposed giving women the right to vote, and disliked non-Anglo-Saxon immigration and supported the introduction of social welfare legislation. He was a staunch champion of the British Empire and went on lecture tours to further the cause. Although he was considered as a candidate for Dominion elections by his party, it declined to invite the author, lecturer, and maverick to stand for election. Nevertheless, he would stump for local candidates at his summer home. Literary life Early in his career, Leacock turned to fiction, humor, and short reports to supplement (and ultimately exceed) his regular income. His stories, originally published in magazines in Canada and the United States and later in novel form, became extremely popular around the world. It was said in 1911 that more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than had heard of Canada. Between 1915 and 1925, Leacock was the most popular humorist in the English-speaking world. A humorist particularly admired by Leacock was Robert Benchley from New York. Leacock opened correspondence with Benchley, encouraging him in his work and importuning him to compile his work into a book. Benchley did so in 1922, and acknowledged the nagging from north of the border. Near the end of his life, the American comedian Jack Benny recounted how he had been introduced to Leacock's writing by Groucho Marx when they were both young vaudeville comedians. Benny acknowledged Leacock's influence and, 50 years after first reading him, still considered Leacock one of his favorite comic writers. He was puzzled as to why Leacock's work was no longer well-known in the United States.Anobile, Richard J., The Marx Bros. Scrapbook, New York, Outlet, 1973 During the summer months, Leacock lived at Old Brewery Bay, his summer estate in Orillia, across Lake Simcoe from where he was raised and also bordering Lake Couchiching. A working farm, Old Brewery Bay is now a museum and National Historic Site of Canada. Gossip provided by the local barber, Jefferson Short, provided Leacock with the material which would become Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), set in the thinly-disguised Mariposa. Although he wrote learned articles and books related to his field of study, his political theory is now all but forgotten. Death In 1900 Leacock married Beatrix ("Trix") Hamilton, niece of Sir Henry Pellatt (who had built Casa Loma, the largest castle in North America). In 1915 - after 15 years of marriage - the couple had their only child, Stephen Lushington Leacock. While Leacock doted on the boy, it became apparent early on that "Stevie" suffered from a lack of growth hormone. Growing to be only 4 feet tall, he had a love-hate relationship with Leacock, who tended to treat him like a child. Predeceased by Trix (who had died of breast cancer in 1925), Leacock was survived by Stevie, who died in his fifties. In accordance with his wishes, after his death from throat cancer, Leacock was buried in St George the Martyr Churchyard, Sutton, Ontario Shortly after his death, Barbara Nimmo, his niece, literary executor and benefactor, published 2 major posthumous works: Last Leaves (1945) and The Boy I Left Behind Me (1946). Writing *"Professor Leacock has made more people laugh with the written word than any other living author. One may say he is one of the greatest jesters, the greatest humorist of the age." -A.P. Herbert *"Mr. Leacock is as 'bracing' as the seaside place of John Hassall's famous poster. His wisdom is always humorous, and his humour is always wise." - Sunday Times *"He is still inimitable. No one, anywhere in the world, can reduce a thing to ridicule with such few short strokes. He is the Grock of literature." - Evening Standard Quotations *"Lord Ronald ... flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions." -- Nonsense Novels, "Gertrude the Governess", 1911 *"I detest life-insurance agents: they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so." Recognition Leacock was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1937, nominally for his academic work. After his death, his physical legacy was less treasured, and his abandoned summer cottage became derelict. It was rescued from oblivion when it was declared a National Historic Site of Canada, in 1958 and ever since has operated as a museum called the Stephen Leacock Memorial Home. In 1947, the Stephen Leacock Award was created to recognize the best in Canadian literary humor. In 1969, the centennial of his birth, Canada Post issued a 6-cent stamp with his image on it. The following year, the Stephen Leacock Centennial Committee had a plaque erected at his English birthplace and a mountain in the Yukon was named after him. A number of buildings in Canada are named after Leacock, including the Stephen Leacock Building at McGill University,Stephen Leacock Building a theatre in Keswick, Ontario, and schools in Toronto and Ottawa. Film adaptations 2 Leacock short stories have been adapted as National Film Board of Canada animated shorts by Gerald Potterton: My Financial Career,NFB - Collection - My Financial Career and The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones.NFB - Collection - The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones Publications Humor *''Literary Lapses. Montreal: Gazette Printing, 1910; London: John Lane, 1910; London & New York: John Lane, 1911. *Nonsense Novels. Montreal: Publishers Press, 1911; New York & London: John Lane, 1911. *Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. New York & London: John Lane, 1912. *Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich. New York & London: John Lane, 1914. *Moonbeams from the Larger Lunacy. Toronto: B.S. Grundy, 1915; New York: John Lane, 1915. *Further Foolishness: Sketches and satires on the follies of the day. London & New York: John Lane, 1916. *Frenzied Fiction. New York & London: John Lane, 1918. *Winsome Winnie, and other new nonsense novels. New York & London: John Lane, 1920. *My Discovery of England. London & New York: John Lane, 1922. *''College Days. London: John Lane, 1923; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1923. *''Winnowed Wisdom: A new book of humour''. London: John Lane, 1926; New York: Dodd Mead, 1926. *''Short Circuits''. London: John Lane, 1928; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1928. *''The Iron Man and the Tin Woman, with other such futurities: A book of little sketches of to-day and to-morrow''. London: John Lane, 1929; New York: Dodd Mead, 1929. *''Laugh with Leacock: An anthology of the best works of Stephen Leacock''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1930. *''Wet Wit and Dry Humor: Distilled from the pages of Stephen Leacock''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1931. *''The Dry Pickwick, and other incongruities''. London: John Lane, 1932. *''Hellements of Hickonomics, in hiccoughs of verse done in Our social planning mill''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1936. *''Funny Pieces: a book of random sketches''. New York: Dodd Mead, 1936; London: John Lane, 1937. *''Too Much College; or, Education eating up life, with kindred essays in education and hummour.'' London: John Lane, 1940; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1942. *''My Remarkable Uncle, and other sketches''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1942; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1942. *''Happy Stories, just to laugh at''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1943; London: John Lane, 1945. *''How to Write''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1943; London: John Lane, 1944. Non-fiction *''Six Lectures on the British Empire''. Ottawa: 1905? *''Elements of Political Science''. London: Constable / Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906. *''Baldwin, Lafontaine, Hincks: Responsible Government.'' Toronto: Morang, 1907. *''Behind the Beyond, and other contributions to human knowledge'' (illustrated by Anne Harriet Fish). New York & London: John Lane, 1913. *''Adventurers of the Far North: A chronicle of the frozen seas. Toronto: Glasgow, Brook, 1914. *The Dawn of Canadian History: a chronicle of aboriginal Canada and the coming of the white man. Toronto: Glasgow, Brook, 1914. *The Mariner of St. Malo: A chronicle of the voyage of Jacques Cartier. Toronto: Glagow, Brook, 1914. *''Essays and Literary Studies. New York & London: John Lane, 1916. *''The Hohenzollerns in America: With The Bolsheviks in Berlin and other impossibilities. London: John Lane, 1919; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1919; Toronto: S.B. Gundy, 1919. *The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice. New York & London: John Lane, 1920. *''Over the Footlights, and other fancies. London: John Lane, 1923; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1923. *''The Garden of Folly''. London: John Lane, 1924; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1924. *''Mackenzie, Baldwin, Lafontaine, Hincks''. London, New York, & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1926. *''Economic Prosperity in the British Empire''. London: Constable, 1930; Toronto: Macmillan, 1930. *''Back to Prosperity: The great opportunity of the Empire Conference''. London: Constable, 1932; New York & Toronto: Macmillan, 1932. *''Afternoons in Utopia: Tales of the new time''. London: John Lane, 1932; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932. *''Mark Twain''. London & Edinburgh: Peter Davies, 1932; New York: D. Appleton, 1933. *''The Greatest Pages of Charles Dickens: A biographical reader and a chronological selection from the works of Dickens with a commentary on his life and art.. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Doran, 1934. *''Humour: Its theory and technique, with examples and samples; a book of discovery. London: John Lane, 1935; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1935. *''The Greatest Pages of American Humour: a study of the rise and development of humorous writings in America with selections from the most notable of the humorists''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Doran, 1936; London: Methuen, 1937. *''Here Are My Lectures and Stories''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1937; London: John Lane, 1938. *''Humour and Humanity: An introduction to the study of humour.'' London: T. Butterworth, 1937; New York: Holt, 1938. *''My Discovery of the West: A discussion of East and West in Canada''. London: John Lane, 1937; Toronto: Thomas Allen, 1937; Boston: Hale, Cushman, & Flint, 1937. *''Model Memoirs, and other sketches from simple to serious''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1938; London: John Lane, 1939. *''Canada: The Foundations of Its Future''. Montreal: privately printed, 1941. *''Our British Empire: its structure, its history, its strength.'' London: Right Book Club, 1941; London: John Lane, 1941. *''Our Heritage of Liberty: its origin, its achievement, its crisis; a book for war time.'' London: John Lane, 1942; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1942. *''Montreal: Seaport and City''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Doran, 1942; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1948. *''Canada's War at Sea''. Montreal: A.M. Beatty, 1944. *''While There Is Time: The case against social catastrophe''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1945. *''Last Leaves''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1945; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1945. *''The Boy I Left Behind Me'' (autobiography). Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1946; London: Bodley Head, 1947. *''The Social Criticism of Stephen Leacock'' (edited by Alan Bowker). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1973. *''On the Front Line of Life: Memories and reflections, 1935-1944'' (edited by Alan Bowker). Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2004. Collected editions *''The Bodley Head Leacock'' (edited by J.B. Priestly). London: Bodley Head, 1951. *''The Unicorn Leacock'' (edited by James Reeves). London: Hutchinson, 1960. *''Feast of Stephen: An anthology of some of the less familiar writings of Stephen Leacock'' (edited by Robertson Davies). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1970. *''The Penguin Stephen Leacock'' (edited by Robertson Davies). Hammondsworth, UK, & Markham, ON: Penguin, 1981. *''Leacock on Life'' (edited by Gerald Lynch). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. Letters *''Letters'' (edited by David Staines & Barbara Nimmo). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2006. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Stephen Leacock, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 7, 2014. See also *List of Canadian poets References *David M. Legate, Stephen Leacock: A biography. Toronto: Doubleday, 1970. *Ina Ferris, "The Face in the Window: Sunshine Sketches Reconsidered," Studies in Canadian Literature University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, 1978. http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/SCL/bin/get.cgi?directory=vol3_2/&filename=Ferris.htm. *Albert & Theresa Moritz, Leacock: A biography. Toronto: Stoddart , 1985. Notes External links ;Poems *Leacock, Stephen (1869-1944) at Representative Poetry Online * Stephen Leacock at PoemHunter (2 poems) ;Prose *"American Humour" from Essays and Literary Studies *Stephen Leacock at the Literature Network ;Books * *Stephen Leacock at the Online Books Page. *Stephen Leacock at Amazon.com *Chronology of Leacock's writings, National Library of Canada ;Audio / video *Audio Books by Stephen Leacock (Librivox recordings) *Stephen Leacock at YouTube *[http://www.scenarioproductions.com/cbc/STAGE_SERIES/9.htm Sunshine Sketches Radio Play] CBC Radio Adaptation 1946 ;About *Stephen Leacock in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Stephen Leacock in the Canadian Encyclopedia *Stephen Leacock, A Biographical Sketch National Library of Canada *Stephen Leacock at The Famous People *Stephen Leacock at NNDB *Brief Chronology of Leacock's Life, National Library of Canada *"Humorist more famous than Canada at The Greatest Authors of All Time *[http://www.collectionscanada.ca/leacock/t5-241-e.html Commentary on Sunshine Sketches], National Library of Canada ;Etc. *Ontario Plaques - Stephen Butler Leacock *The Stephen Leacock Building at McGill University Category:1869 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Canadian economists Category:Canadian humorists Category:English immigrants to Canada Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:People from Swanmore Category:Writers from Ontario Category:People from York Region Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer Category:Upper Canada College alumni Category:Governor General's Award winning non-fiction writers Category:Cancer deaths in Ontario Category:National Historic Persons of Canada Category:20th-century poets Category:Canadian short story writers Category:Canadian poets Category:Humorous poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets